Oberlin sent all admitted students a video called Follow the Morning Star. The video is Oberlin's look-at-the-cool-grace-saving stuff-we've- done-for- black-folks video. In the video, Bill Cosby, a most respectable African American millionaire non-alum, runs down the significance Oberlin College has had in making the way less scabby for black students and black Americans. One finds from the video, and the college's very visible commitment to bettering black retention, how deeply lodged black student achievement is to Oberlin's reputation.
Nancy Dye commissioned a study into why black student retention was "lower than expected." Apparently, there are major problems with the progeny of black students not graduating on pace with other groups on campus. According to the study, money and institutional racism played small roles, but the primary reasons for students leaving Oberlin were isolation and uninvolvemnt in campus activities. What does this mean? It implies a plush college that goes the extra 60 miles to insure that its students have all the feasible choices they could want and need (and an extra 64 miles to insure the same thing and not offend its black students), shouldn't have retention problems ... also seems, however, that something is being neglected.
Obviously some students can't maintain the Oberlin tuition. But, as evidenced by the graduating of black students forced to live in barns near the beginning of the century, most black students, like all students, can find ways to stay in school if they really, really want. Oberlin's job is to make sure that all of its students really, really want to stay here. One misunderstood reality is that Oberlin isn't for everybody and many people can do better without Oberlin and within other educational and noneducational institutions. Oberlin's relationship with black students is similar to a marriage. Focus, honesty and commitment are needed from both sides if the outcome is going to be cacophonous.This means that the college should do everything it can to challenge and provide black students with productive choices. It should be up-front with its intentions and its ability to create financial comfort and a nonisolated social life. And African Americans students, who want or need to be here, should focus on their work, demand honesty from the institution and find ways to persevere and enjoy themselves on campus. But not graduating from Oberlin does not mean failure. This isn't the early Jim Crow 1900's. Oberlin, the Morning Star, is a wonderful star in the collegiate and life galaxy, but thankfully, there are hundreds of other stars out there. There are plenty of other schools, choices and opportunities for black folk to flourish. The Administration has to know this. Hence, four questions remain: Where do those black students who don't graduate from Oberlin go? Why is it so important to retain the black students who don't want to be here? Are the same efforts made to insure retention of all low-income students? And, who do efforts to retain black students ultimately benefit?
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